


In Which Dream is Claustrophobic

by ShandyCandy278



Series: Undertale One-Shots [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, But haven't said anything about it, Claustrophobia, Dream needs comfort, Error’s here too, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hehehe~, I like to theorize, Ink did something, M/M, Panic Attack, Sneaking into Nightmare’s office, They just really like eachother, Tunnel collapse, all the fluff and angst, castle - Freeform, good cross, lots of cream, not sure what, sneaking into Nightmare’s castle, trapped in stone, tunnel, tunnels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShandyCandy278/pseuds/ShandyCandy278
Summary: The Nightmares have been silent for a month, so Dream, Ink, Blue, and Cross go to investigate. Being Observant, Cross notices that Dream is afraid of something. But what?





	In Which Dream is Claustrophobic

**Author's Note:**

> Did you know that Dream was once encased in stone? Nightmare couldn't kill his brother because of the destiny bond, so the next best thing was to seal him in stone (from what I can remember). It was like this for many years (50 years? 500 years? I forget, but I know it had a 5 in it), until Dream was able to break the spell and get away from his brother and his castle. It's also how he meets Ink for the first time.
> 
> Now- if you were trapped in stone for a long time, wouldn't you be scared of being trapped again? Scared of places or things that restrict movement?
> 
> I certainly would.

He was fine.

He was totally fine.

The important part was that he had work to do, so he would get it done. 

Nothing would stop him.

Especially not the memory of-

He internally shook his head, leading them onwards.

Ink cared but didn’t, so he didn’t notice. 

Blue didn’t know everything about Dream’s past, so he didn’t notice either.

But Cross did, despite having the same limited knowledge Blue had. 

He  _ noticed _ , Dream knew.

The other’s eyes were glued onto him, watching with an emotionless expression that sometimes even Dream couldn’t fully read. He did his best to respect the other’s privacy regardless, but it was hard not to guess what Cross was thinking when he was being so…  _ obvious _ about it.

“We’re almost there.” He said out loud in a hushed whisper- directed at the others but more for soothing the bubbling in his chest than anything. “Remember, a quick in-and-out. No more than seven minutes and no less than two. We’re looking to see if there’s anything about the next world that they’re targeting.” Silence answered him, as he knew it would.

Not even Ink would forget how important it was for them to not be caught using this shortcut.

He continued to ignore Cross’ gaze on him, even as they finally arrived at the end of the tunnel. Their magic was no use this close to the castle, and it left him with the anxious twitch of his fingers. He needed to distract himself, so Dream thought back to the first time this passageway had been used. 

He and Ink had found this tunnel leading to the abandoned wine cellar in the lower floors of the castle years ago, back when it was just them and their friendship was still very young- back when Dream was still weirded out by Ink’s inability to feel and his talking to Broomy.

They only used it when the Nightmares would lay low and be inactive for far longer than was normal, planning some kind of dastardly plot. It had been years since the last one, but with a month’s worth of silence, it was time to put the shortcut into use once again.

Dream reached up, searching for the knob to the trap door above them. The tunnel might have been narrow, but there was at least an arm’s height above them still. The Guardian stood up on his toes, panic surfacing slightly when he couldn’t-

_ There! _

He grasped at it and then used it to pull himself up, bracing his legs against the walls around him. He tried to use his magic to see if there was anyone near the trap door and was oh so  _ graciously _ reminded last second that he couldn’t. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and letting it out slowly.

_ Calm. _

He needed to be calm.

He pushed up, and the old trap door creaked in protest as he looked around the slightly less crowded room of the wine cellar. The shelves were completely barren, bottles of wine that had long since been used up and never re-stocked. When he was positive there wasn’t anyone, he pushed it open fully and let it land against the floor with a small thud. He climbed out, reaching down to help his friends come out one by one.

“Okay-“ He looked up at Ink. “Normal routes. Blue goes with you and Cross with me. Do you remember where the prison is here in case of an emergency?” Ink paused for a moment, and his eyelights changed shapes before he nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

They exited the Cellar with ease, and that was when the internal clock was set for seven minutes and began to count down. 

They went their separate ways- Ink and Blue going to the meeting room and the general direction of the bedrooms, while Dream and Cross headed in the direction of Nightmare’s office. It was much more guarded than the objectives Ink and Blue went for, so Dream was in no mood to dilly-dally.

He knew that Cross agreed in his logic, they had talked about it before they had left for the mission, but it was growing harder to believe that. Cross kept on almost running into Dream whenever he stopped to look around before continuing. It was nighttime in Dreamtale, but that didn’t mean guards weren’t around.

“Is something wrong?” Dream asked when he glanced over his shoulder after Cross almost ran into him for the fifth time. 

It was starting to worry him- was the other lost in memories of this place? He seemed worried- maybe Dream should have prepared him more for this trip than he did. What if-

“I don’t know,” Cross replied instantly, voice soft yet stern. His eyes narrowed at Dream, suspicious worry leaking through his emotionless facade. “Is there?”

Dream fought against his stiffening body at the accusing tone of voice the other held. 

Oh, so it wasn’t anything about Cross’ past, but it was about him instead. Greeaat.

“I don’t see anything wrong.” He replied cautiously, although he mentally winced at the tense tone in his voice that clipped his words. It wasn’t as nearly as relaxed and confident as it had been before. He needed a distraction, so he aimed his main focus back on making it to his Brother’s Office without being caught. They were just a hallway down, and then he’d have to pick the lock, and-

“So there is something wrong.”

Of course, Cross would want to keep pushing. He didn't mind, but now also was  _ not the time. _

“No.” Dream replied, his voice stern. “There is nothing wrong.”

“You know, you repeated our mission _ five separate times _ while we were in that tunnel,” Cross whispered after they walked across an intersection, stopping by the door with the moon on it. Dream pulled out his lock picks from his boots, shooting a small glance at Cross.

“Because that’s how important and serious this mission is.” Dream explained, forcing confidence into his voice. He didn’t want to talk about this, and he made a point of that by turning to the door and situating the lockpicks in position. “We can’t afford to mess up.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Of what?”

“The castle?”

“No. It saddens me.”

“The Nightmares?”

“I’m more afraid of losing my life.”

“Your brother?”

“I’m not afraid of him.” Dream huffed and wiggled the lock pick around a little. “He’s my brother. He might have made terrible choices and have powerful magic, but I can never be afraid of him. Maybe I used to be afraid of what he has become, but I’m not anymore.” Finally succeeding, he smirked and removed the pick, opening the door. “I’m more afraid of what the Nightmares plan on doing to try and tip the balance towards negative emotions than I am of anything that they could do to me.”

“But you were afraid of something else while we were down in the tunnel.” His partner pointed out, confused.

“Focus.” Dream opted for a distraction with a firmer tone of finality to it. “We have to be careful while looking through here. We can’t leave any trace.”

It worked- for now. Cross nodded and walked over to some of the filing cabinets while Dream took over searching his brother’s desk. There were some papers on a few AUs that the Nightmares had attacked before they had gone silent, with words crossed out and places circled in red. Dream took in what information he could, his internal timer ticking down.

Four minutes were left.

He started looking everywhere his brother might have hidden important documents, Cross still looking through the filing cabinets. “I’m not seeing anything, are you?”

“There’s this file that’s talking about plans to attack Undernovela-“ Cross hid back a chuckle. “But Error threatened to kill them if they dared to interrupt his source of entertainment.” Dream laughed a little.

“Anything else?”

“Something about Outertale being a Neutral zone for almost the same reason, Sci remaining untouchable and the theories about Multiple Multiverses.”

“Nightmare’s been looking into that for a while, but hasn’t made any progress.” Dream admitted. “He accidentally brought the idea up to Sci once, you know. The other was flowing with so much positive excitement and curiosity that my brother couldn’t go near him for  _ months _ .” It was Cross’ turn to laugh, shaking his head.

“Has he made any progress on it?” He asked, placing the Manila folder back where it belonged.

“He’s managed to confirm the existence of other Multiverses, but hasn’t found out if any of us can travel between them.” Dream dusted himself off, walking to the door. “Come on, our time’s going to be up soon.”

“Error isn’t going to like that idea.”

“ _ Error _ is convinced that  _ any  _ version of him would want to destroy the universe, that he’s the original, and that if they’re anything like him they’ll do their job right and then die off to leave the original Multiverse as the only Multiverse. He also believes that the multiple multiverses are the reason why some of the more popular worlds keep coming back. No one wants to correct him on it, though.”

“I see.” Dream closed the door behind him, and together they rushed down the halls. Less caution was used than before, but that was because Cross was finally paying attention to their surroundings. They made it to the cellar just before Ink and Blue- Ink smiling almost excitedly as he fingered his paints. Dream blinked.

“Did something happen?” He asked.

“No,” Blue shook his head. “We didn’t find anything. Did you?”

“No,” Cross repeated Blue’s action. “We didn't.”

“We can talk about this later- for now, let’s leave so that we don’t get caught.” Dream walked over to the trap door and opened it, letting them all hop down first before he did, the trap door thumping behind them.

With Dream in the back of the group  _ and  _ behind Cross, he relaxed what little he could- anxiously fiddling with his gloves. He couldn’t wait for this all to be over and to be back in the open and in the Doodle Sphere and-

The ground around them shook.

Something happened. 

_ “RUN!” _ Dream yelled, pushing Cross lightly when he froze.

And they did- as fast as they could in the narrowed space, trying not to trip as the ground continued to shake. They were almost out too, but Cross suddenly stopped in front of him. Dream rammed into him, falling on his would-be butt. 

“Wha- Cross-“ Without warning, the black and white guard threw himself over Dream. The Earth around them shook- much harder than the others, and the tunnel before them collapsed. 

They would have been crushed.

“We- We need to go back-” They fumbled for a few minutes, Cross trying to get off of him even as the world trembled. Dream gritted his teeth together in frustration. “If we go back we can sneak-” He looked back towards the way that they came, and his yellow eyelights shrunk at the sight of that area caving in as well. 

_ They were trapped. _

Dream tried to simultaneously focus on calming his breathing (he didn't even  _ need  _ to breathe, this was  _ ridiculous _ ) while finding a way out of this situation. Their magic was restricted to almost nothing still, so they’d have to try to get out physically. Cross worrying over him would do nothing to help them.

When Cross finally managed to get off of him and help Dream up to his feet, all he did was stare at him.

“Are you-”

“I’m fine.” Dream pushed the tremor out of his voice, swallowing. “Let’s just try to get out of here.” He stepped forward, pushing past Cross and towards the dirt. “We-We should try to dig ourselves out. Come on, Cross-” The ground shook again, and dirt fell in little clouds from the ceiling. He ignored it. “The faster we get out of here, the faster we get home.”

“...Okay.” Cross stepped forward as well, trying to help Dream dig through the dirt. More of the passageway fell behind them, the space getting smaller than it had been before. The Guardian’s fingers twitched, but he focused all of his efforts on digging through the dirt. He couldn’t focus on that- not on the idea of slowly losing the ability to move, or-

He took in a sharp breath when he heard even more dirt fall behind him. No, no,  _ no- _

“Dream?” Cross asked. 

The said skeleton growled lowly, ignoring his companion and continuing to move dirt. He couldn’t expect the stone that made the ceiling to stay still for much longer and he wanted to  _ get out- _

“Dream!” Cross grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back forcibly and making him stop just as the ceiling above where he had been standing collapsed, allowing more dirt to fall through. Dream jerked, his body shaking as he tried to fight off the guard’s hold.  _ It wasn’t working. _

“Let-Let go, Cross!” His voice was wavering with his nerves, he lost count of how many deep breaths he tried to take. “We- We need to- We  _ need  _ to get out of here-”

“Dream, stop.” Cross’s hold became more firm, but Dream continued to struggle against him. No, he wasn’t going to stop- he wasn’t going to allow himself to get stuck like this again, he wasn’t going to-

Cross moved, summoning his blade. Dream flinched, struggling even more than he had been. He couldn’t see anything- his vision fading in and out with a haze. Memories were mixing themselves with the present and he  _ needed to leave- _

“Dream! Hold still, I’m just-” Cross grunted as he forced the two of them down to sit on the floor. Dream kicked and scratched at Cross’ clothes, even as the other somehow stuck the knife up just above their heads. The Earth around them shook again, more dirt fell, he was slowly being encased, he didn't  _ want to be trapped again- _

“Dream-” Cross’ voice was fading in and out- why did it sound so  _ close  _ and then so _ far away? _ “Dream, I need you to calm down-” Another tremor, and Dream flinched. He worked even harder- some of the Dirt fell onto his foot and he jerked it away.

“No, no, no-” He struggled to breathe, fighting even harder against Cross’ hold on him. “Not again, not again,  _ not again I can’t let this happen again I don’t want to be trapped- _ ”

“Dream!” Cross shouted. “Dream, you need to calm down! You’re fine!”

His body shook- he couldn’t see anything but the  _ glint in his brother’s eyes as the stone slowly worked its way up his body, his legs numb. He wanted to run, to scream- but he couldn’t force anything out as his body was slowly forced to stop moving, the stone encasing his soul last- _

** _“Snap out of it!”_ **

Dream was suddenly shaken violently by his shoulders, and with a simple blink, the memory vanished. His breathing was still frantic, and he looked up to see Cross sitting against the wall, his arms gripping Dream tightly.

“Yes, look at me- Good.” Cross praised. “Now, I need you to breathe in-” Cross breathed in, and Dream was quick to do the same. It was hard- oh, mother,  _ why was it so hard?! _ “Hold it… Now breathe out. Breathe in-” The ground shook again, and Dream desperately grabbed onto Cross’ jacket. His eyelights were practically gone now, but he still managed to see Cross instead of Nightmare’s single eye. “Breathe out.”

* * *

They continued this for a while. Every time the ground shook, Dream would go into near-panic again, but they soon slowed down and soon the tremors were practically non-existent. At one point the Guardian had hidden his face deep into Cross’ jacket, and he refused to leave for anything. The guard hadn’t minded- not at all.

They continued to lay there regardless, stuck in the dark and with no immediate way to escape. Cross continued to comfort Dream, the hyperventilating gone and the guardian’s shaking toned down. His hands slowly moved in circles up and down Dream’s back, holding the other close.

Cross had to admit, he was confused and more than just a little worried. He had never seen Dream act so… terrified. Of anything, before- and the fact that the other still had yet to calm down from his Panic Attack worried him even more.

They had been silent for several minutes now- just listening to each other breathe. It was rather calming- any fear that Cross had felt from before slowly leaving him. He hadn’t forgotten what kind of situation they were in, but he was able to think better now.

As helpful as it was, the silence was also slowly eating at him from the inside out.

Maybe he should change that.

“Dream?” He asked, his words a soft whisper. Dream’s hands tightened their hold on his jacket, but he looked up as he slowly lifted his head. His eyelights were present now, if not a little frazzled.

“...Cross…?” When he nodded, Dream looked around. “Where- What happened?” He went to move his legs, but they touched the dirt that surrounded them and he froze, eye sockets wide. “What- How-“

“No, no- don’t you  _ dare  _ start panicking again.” Cross grabbed the Guardian’s shoulders with one hand and used the other to guide his skull to look him in the eye. “Just focus on me. Don’t focus on anything else- just. Me.”

“O-Okay.” Dream took a deep breath. “What… What happened?”

“For whatever reason, the tunnel in front and behind us collapsed.” He tried to make his voice sound soothing as he did so, continuing to rub circles up and down Dream’s spine. “When that happened, we began to try and dig our way out. That’s when you started having a panic attack.” Cross gestured above them, and Dream dared a glance up. 

“I shoved the hilt of my sword into a hole in the wall, and the tip is stuck between two bricks on the wall on the other side, so I was able to protect us. The tremors didn’t stop until about five minutes ago.” His gaze fell upon the other’s, and he could feel him stiffen. “But what we should be asking is- are you  _ okay? _ ”

“Me?” Dream asked- as if he needed clarification. Cross nodded. “I’m… alright.”

“That’s bull crap.” He winced at the tone in the guard’s voice, but the hand came up from his back and rested upon his skull, gently rubbing at the bone there and tracing invisible designs with his fingertips. Dream relaxed, shifting closer to the other. “Please, just tell me so that I can help you. I promise that I won’t tell anyone else- it’ll just be our little secret.” 

The silence carried on for a while, and Cross was glad that they technically didn’t need oxygen to breathe. 

“I…” Dream began a few minutes later. “When my brother became the Nightmare you know, he… he…” He shifted, hiding his face from the other skeleton and taking in a shuddering breath from within Cross’ jacket. Cross continued to be patient, tugging the Guardian closer if possible- as if to protect him from the world around them.

“Shhh.” He soothed. “Go at your own pace.”

“I… w-was completely encased in-in stone.” He continued, slowly pulling his head out so that Cross could hear him, but still somehow hiding his face there. Tears began to form, so he raised a hand to wipe them away. “For- For years. I had to stand there, unable to move for mother-knew how long. I… I couldn’t do anything to help anyone, a-and then I finally managed to-to get free and meet Ink, and… I don’t… I don’t like-“

“Enclosed places,” His voice was low and soft, but hard all at once. His hands never stopped working to soothe Dream, even as he thought of all of the different things he could do to Nightmare as revenge. “Or anything that reminds you of that, huh?” Dream nodded into his jacket, still holding onto him desperately.

“I… I’m sorry.” Dream muttered after several moments of silence. He laughed. “Normally I have more control than this.”

“Sorry?” Cross tightened his grip, eye sockets narrowed. “Dream, you have nothing to be sorry about. What you feel is completely natural- you shouldn’t have to hide it.”

“If I just let my emotions take control of me, Nightmare will find me faster.” A dry laugh escaped the skeleton on top of him. “It’s better to just keep quiet and let everyone think everything’s okay.”

The sentence strung a chord deep within Cross’ soul, and he couldn’t help but think over every single interaction he had had with the other. All of the times Dream had barely reacted outside of a small smile or narrowed eyes.

If he had a sibling who could track him down by his emotions, Cross would have bottled them up too. In fact, he already kept them bottled up on a regular basis- but not nearly to the extent that Dream had. He felt stupid for not thinking about it earlier.

But he knew how to try to make it better.

“But that’s not okay.” He said- voice soft yet stern. Dream moved to look up at him again- Yellow eyelights meeting white and red. ‘You told me that yourself- it’s not healthy to bottle up your emotions. Everyone needs a way to let them out.”

“Letting them out would still bring Nightmare to hunt me down.” The Guardian shook his head lightly. “I just have to wait until it’s all over, and then I can just… let everything out.”

“But how long will that take, Dream?” He asked. “How long will it take for things to ‘settle down’?” When nothing answered him, he nodded. “That’s what I thought. Is… Is there anything that I can do to help you? You’ve helped me so much, it’s the least I can do in return…”

_ ‘Anything to see an actual smile.’ _ He thought absently.

“I… I don’t know.” Dream sniffed, holding Cross closer as he closed his eye sockets. “ _ I don’t know. _ ” 

They stayed like that for several moments, listening to the silence. Cross was tempted to suggest that they get up and try to move- to get items out of the way. Anything to distract them from how  _ depressing _ the atmosphere had gotten. He even opened his mouth, but the words failed to form themselves on his tongue just before  _ something _ appeared behind them. That was when they suddenly fell through the floor, landing onto some grass in a completely different AU.

“Oomph!” Dream was, admittedly, heavier than he looked, and Cross raised a hand to hide his eyes from the very, very bright sun. Dream sat up instantly, sucking in a huge breath as he looked around, panicked and relieved all at once. Cross looked around too, keeping his hold protective. 

They… were next to Blue’s house on the surface of Underswap…?

“You found them!” Blue’s familiar voice exclaimed happily. Dream was too busy making sure that this was actually happening to look at him, so Cross did it for him. He was standing a few feet away, smile bright. “Oh, thank you so much for helping us, Error! We would have been sitting ducks if you hadn’t.”

“Don’t touch me and leave me alone you stupid abomination!” Error’s glitched voice yelled angrily. His grumbled mumbling was soon cut off just as Cross began to observe the area around them more thoroughly. Dream was still holding onto him, and Ink was pouting in a nearby corner of the yard covered from head to toe in strings and hanging from the branches of a tree.

“But I just wanted to be friends~!” He whined as Blue walked over to Dream and Cross.

“I told you not to activate his Haphephobia, Ink.” The younger chastised.

“It was just gonna be a hand-shake!” The artist protested. “I swear that’s it!”

“Are you guys okay?” Blue asked, blue eyelights staring down at them as he ignored the other outcode. “We were worried you were buried alive for a moment there.”

Dream was too relieved to speak, his body finally actually relaxing now that they were in a much more open space and far away from Dreamtale. Cross slowly stood up as Dream slumped over, exhaustion practically dripping off the Guardian. He didn't hesitate to pick the other up, carrying him in his arms.

“We’re fine,” Cross answered for them, holding Dream a little closer. “Just… a little shaken.”

“H-Hey!” Dream protested, although his actions were weak due to the effort he had previously used to try and fight off Cross. “I can walk!”

“I doubt that you can walk properly right now- you’re still shaking.” The guard huffed. “I will simply carry you to Blue’s guest room, and there you can sleep and recover."

“Are you sure you’re both okay?” Blue asked, concern shining through his eyes.

“Yes.” They both answered at the same time. Cross then proceeded to walk Dream out of the room and down the hall into the next room. He set the Guardian down on the bed, lowering the blankets and tucking him in. However, before he could leave, Dream reached out and grabbed onto Cross’ sleeve.

“Can… Can you stay?” He asked, the request almost unheard because it was spoken in such a quiet, tired whisper. “...Please?”

_ ‘Anything to help you.’ _

“Okay.” Cross complied, pulling a chair by the desk he was close to up so that he could sit on it next to Dream’s current bed. The other smiled lightly before his eyes closed. He fell asleep shortly after, and an hour later, Cross was too.

Ink, finally free from Error’s strings, smiled at the scene. “Knew it~!”

“Knew what?” Blue asked, looking up at the Artist.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with for now.” Ink laughed. “We have to see if it’ll actually go anywhere first.” Then he closed the door and walked away, leaving a confused skeleton behind.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't really find the comic that explains the notes at the beginning, well... anywhere. I was a little confused and went to go check it out. I caught up with Joku's Tumblr, and... I feel really bad for them and with what's been going on- they don't deserve that. I understand why the comics have been taken down and respect their decision.
> 
> Buuut I also feel really guilty not being able to cite the comic that inspired this. So I looked really, really hard and finally found something. Here's a link to a comic dub featuring Dream being turned to stone: https://youtu.be/pQszeUUjFv8
> 
> Oh, and don't forget to give Joku some love!


End file.
